Karen McCrimmon: Canadian Forces veteran

By Riley Maracle

Karen McCrimmon, 54, is from Weston, Ontario, which is located just 30 minutes west of Toronto. She was born to Charles and Isabel Martin. Charles was a metallurgic technician. Isabel emigrated from Scotland when she was 20 years old.

McCrimmon joined the Royal Canadian Army Cadets while in high school. In 1975 she joined the Windsor Regiment (RCAC) as a reservist while attending her Bachelor of Arts in Russian and linguistics at the University of Windsor.

After graduating she enlisted in the Canadian Forces as a navigator.  She became the first woman ever to command a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron. She was the commanding officer of the 429 Squadron, flying tactical transport C130 Hercules based in Trenton. McCrimmon, along with the rest of the 429 Squadron, carried many military and humanitarian missions all around the world in her 31 years in the air force. She was also a senior staff officer at the NATO headquarters in Ramstein, Germany.  In 1995 McCrimmon was awarded the Order of Military Merit (OMM), which is one of the highest peace keeping military awards handed out.

Once she retired she returned to school to study negotiation and mediation. She now owns her own business that specializes in facilitation, conflict resolution, collaborative solutions and training. McCrimmon is married with two children.

She is the Liberal candidate for Carleton-Mississippi Mills riding.  She is campaigning on the importance of unity within the Liberal party instead of political divisions, along with trust and respect between the political parties.

She is pushing the issue of youth unemployment, and improved benefits for Canadian war veterans.